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Friday, 16 May 2008

Earthquake deathtoll could exceed 50,000AudioTranscript

Updated 10:53:45

The Chinese Government has predicted that the death toll from this week's earthquake will pass 50 thousand.

Aid agencies working in extraordinary conditionsAudio

Updated 10:53:45

In Burma, countries sending aid to the cyclone-ravaged nation have been warned to monitor closely its supplies, to stop the military regime from seizing them, nonetheless some remarkable stories are emerging about how the Burmese workers on the ground are dealing with extraordinary conditions.

ASEAN defends its response to BurmaAudioTranscript

Updated 10:53:45

ASEAN is in damage control after being criticised for being too slow in responding to the disaster in Burma.

Burma votes "yes" in referendumAudioTranscript

Updated 10:53:45

With millions of people yet to vote ..

Vietnamese journalists imprisonedAudio

Updated 10:53:45

Media rights groups have condemned the imprisonment this week, of two Vietnamese journalists, arrested for "abusing their power for personal gain" over their reporting of a 2006 scandal.

Research questions stockpiling of bird flu drugsAudioTranscript

Updated 10:53:45

A paper just published in Nature online has found that a mutation of the avian influenza virus is resistent to the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu.

Australia's central bank warns China overheatingAudioTranscript

Updated 10:53:45

Australia's top central banker says an overheated Chinese economy is having an impact on Australia's inflation rate.

Fortescue: "the new force in iron ore"Audio

Updated 10:53:45

It used to be considered the "iron-ore wannabe" with a lot of big plans, but the Fortescue Metals Group is now calling itself "the new force in iron ore" after the company shipped its first load of iron ore from Western Australia to China.

Quake threatens "Great Firewall of China"Audio

Updated 10:53:44

In China, observers have been both surprised and impressed by the national media's handling of this week's earthquake disaster.

Debate over 'citizen journalism' in SingaporeAudio

Updated 10:53:44

And in Singapore, new technology has allowed greater immediacy in local media with members of the public offering clips and pictures, both on the internet and also to local mainstream media.

Malaysia's high court upholds activist's detentionAudio

Updated 10:53:44

Malaysia's highest court has this week refused to release five ethnic Indian activists being held indefinitely under a tough security law for mounting an anti-discrimination rally.

Thursday, 15 May 2008

Death toll increasing in chinaAudioTranscript

Updated 10:31:57

The death toll in China from this week's disastrous earthquake is increasing, with rescue workers finally reaching the worst affected areas in the mountains to the north of Chengdu in south-western China.

Burma threatened by new cycloneAudio

Updated 10:31:57

As if the country doesn't already have enough on its plate, in Burma there are fears that a giant weather system over the country could form into another cyclone.

Australians worry aid not getting throughAudio

Updated 10:31:57

Australians are known as generous donors when a natural disaster strikes in our neighbourhood, but some aid agencies say they're facing a tough battle convincing would-be donors to donate for the Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Australia's foreign aid boostAudio

Updated 10:31:57

The Australian government has given the aid community a budget shot in the arm, kicking in half a billion Australian dollars towards overseas assistance.

Philippine government warned on peace with separatistsAudioTranscript

Updated 10:31:57

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group says the government must jumpstart talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a 12-thousand strong group which has waged a campaign for a separate homeland since the late 1970s.

Nobel laureates call for activist's releaseAudio

Updated 10:31:57

A group of 22 Nobel laureates has sent a letter to the Indian government criticizing the incarceration of prominent doctor and human-rights worker Binayak Sen and asking that he be released to receive a global health award later this month.

Protests against Jakarta's fuel price hikeAudio

Updated 10:31:57

Thousands of Indonesians have taken to the streets this week protesting against a government plan to raise fuel prices before the end of the month.

Australia to boost skilled migrant numbersAudioTranscript

Updated 10:31:57

Australia is to boost its skilled migrant intake by 30 per cent over the next year, in a bid to overcome a shortage of skilled workers.

Australia announces boost to Asian language teachingAudioTranscript

Updated 10:31:57

The Australian government has also announced major investment into Asian language teaching.

Polar bear at risk because of global warmingAudioTranscript

Updated 10:31:57

The polar bear has become the first animal to be listed as "threatened" because of global warming.

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Sichuan earthquake witnesses speakAudio

Updated 10:34:59

As the heartbreaking and desperate race gets underway to reach those buried under rubble, stories are emerging from those who survived, near the quake's epicentre.

Race to rescue earthquake survivorsAudioTranscript

Updated 10:34:59

Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, but they don't have the equipment needed to lift concrete and steel, elsewhere in Sichuan province, frantic efforts are being made to reach thousands of people under the rubble.

Burma allows some aid to get throughAudio

Updated 10:34:59

Aid agencies are still struggling to convince Burma's military leaders that foreign crisis experts be allowed into the country however, the junta seems to have allowed in American assistance.

Bombs explode in JaipurAudio

Updated 10:34:59

In India the government has issued a nationwide security alert, after the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan was hit by a series of bomb blasts in which seven explosions tore through crowded markets yesterday, killing at least 80 people and wounding about 200.

UN in East Timor lambasted over controversial appointmentAudioTranscript

Updated 10:34:59

In East Timor, the United Nations is on the defensive after being lambasted by their own top lawyer in New York for hiring a disgraced former defence minister Roque Rodrigues as a presidential security advisor.

Indonesia to release new rice growing landAudio

Updated 10:34:58

Indonesia has revealed plans to set aside 10 thousand square kilometres of land to grow more rice as countries in southeast Asia scramble to avoid a shortage of the food staple.

Gloria Arroyo pardons failed coup army officersAudio

Updated 10:34:58

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has consolidated her support in the military by pardoning nine army officers who took part in a failed coup against her in 2003.

Internet produces 'local' EnglishAudioTranscript

Updated 10:34:58

The Internet, text messaging and social networking websites, new IT technologies have transformed the way we communicate.

China to build its own jumbo jetAudio

Updated 10:34:58

China moves a step closer to fulfilling its dreams of building its own jumbo jet.

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

School children still trapped after quakeAudioTranscript

Updated 10:20:52

A huge earthquake in southwest China, has killed at least 10,000 people and was felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, 1,800 kilometres from the epicentre.

Burma aid restrictions leave agencies at "10 percent"AudioTranscript

Updated 10:15:32

The United Nations says it's struggling to help up to two million people in Burma whose lives are at risk from starvation and disease in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

Calls for UN to intervene in BurmaAudio

Updated 10:15:32

As the Generals refuse to allow aid workers in, there are calls for the United Nations to intervene under the UN's "Responsiblity to Protect" principle.

Pakistan coalition under threatAudioTranscript

Updated 10:15:32

Pakistan's six-week old coalition government is under threat, after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pulled his party out citing the coalition's failure to meet yesterday's deadline to reinstate sixty judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan to buy spy planes from AustraliaAudio

Updated 10:15:31

Pakistan wants to buy surveillance aircraft from Australia to help patrol Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters along the two thousand plus kilometre border.

China television critical of Australian gold mining firmAudio

Updated 10:15:31

An Australian mining company with a majority holding in China's second-largest gold mine has been the focus of a scathing attack on Chinese state television.

Magazine market takes off in IndiaAudio

Updated 10:15:31

One of the world's largest publishing companies, Conde Nast is preparing to launch its luxury men's magazine, GQ after experiencing success with the introduction of Vogue magazine a year ago.

Star Wars technology deployed against breast cancerAudio

Updated 10:15:31

Technology developed by the Pentagon to destroy missiles could be used to hunt for cancerous tumours in a woman's breast.

Push to abolish death penalty in IndiaAudio

Updated 10:15:31

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International along with civil rights body the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties has pushed for abolishing death penalty in India in a recently release study.

Palm oil plantations a threat to orangutan populationAudio

Updated 10:15:31

An Indonesian conservationist fears one of the biggest populations of wild orangutans on Borneo will be extinct in three years without drastic measures to stop the expansion of palm oil plantations.

Monday, 12 May 2008

Aid agencies warn of water borne disease in BurmaAudioTranscript

Updated 11:19:55

Aid agencies want countries to continue to pressure Burma's military junta to open its doors, not only to food, medicine and shelter, but also to the experts who have the know-how to prevent major disease outbreaks.

Aid distribution a challege for agenciesAudio

Updated 10:41:24

Planeloads of medicines due to arrive in Rangoon today.

Australia rejects criticism of Burma aidAudio

Updated 10:41:24

Australia's Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith says criticism of the $A3 million contribution by his predecessor Alexander Downer was misplaced and amounted to political points scoring.

North Korea hands over nuclear documentsAudioTranscript

Updated 10:41:24

The United States has described as "an important first step," the handing over of North Korean documents detailing the country's nuclear programme.

Sri Lankan government claims election victoryAudio

Updated 10:41:24

The Sri Lankan government has claimed victory in key provincial elections in the east of the island, where officials say the government and its allies are on track to win control over a 35-member provincial council in the eastern coastal region.

Australia denies rift with JapanAudio

Updated 10:41:24

Australia's Foreign Minister denies there's a rift developing with Japan as Australia strengthens its relationship with China.

Cyclone intensity to increase with climate changeAudio

Updated 10:41:24

India's Centre for Science and Environment has warned that the cyclone that devasted Burma's Irrawady delta over a week ago, could become more commonplace in future.

Methadone program to start in VietnamAudio

Updated 10:41:24

Domestic drug abuse has risen sharply in Vietnam since the 1990's, with heroin the most popular illegal drug in the country, now government is tackling the drug problem with the launch of six methadone clinics in Vietnam.

Unaids should be closed down: ExpertAudio

Updated 10:41:24

An international health expert claims the UN's exclusive focus on HIV and AIDS is creating disadvantages for the rest of the global health sector.

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